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Legislative Assembly for the ACT: 2003 Week 14 Hansard (11 December) . . Page.. 5267 ..

MR CORBELL (continuing):

The proposed legislation makes provision for enforcement and monitoring powers and offences in relation to a moratorium order. The proposed legislation also has a sunset clause and is to be in effect for three years with provision for annual review in light of trade and marketing developments. The moratorium would sunset on 17 June 2006.

Mr Speaker, the territory will use the three-year moratorium to collate and analyse available data in order to make a considered judgement on the costs and benefits associated with genetically modified food crops. Over a period of approximately four weeks, stakeholders will have the opportunity to make their views known about the bill to the government. I intend to introduce the legislation in February next year.

I commend the exposure draft of the Gene Technology (GM Crop Moratorium) Bill to the Assembly.

Question resolved in the affirmative.

Community Services and Social Equity-Standing Committee

Report No 3-government response

MS GALLAGHER (Minister for Education, Youth and Family Services, Minister for Women and Minister for Industrial Relations) (3.59): For the information of members, I present the following paper:

Community Services and Social Equity-Standing Committee-Report No 3-inquiry entitled The rights, interests and well-being of children and young people-Government response, dated December 2003.

I move:

That the Assembly takes note of the paper.

On behalf of the ACT government, I present the government response to report No 3 of the Standing Committee on Community Services and Social Equity, entitled The rights, interests and well-being of children and young people, which was presented to the Assembly on 28 August 2003. I thank the standing committee members for their work and contribution towards improving outcomes for children and young people in our community.

The report prepared by the standing committee is a commentary on the provision of services to children and young people in the ACT. This focus by the committee was to enhance service delivery to enable children and young people to have the best chance of entering adulthood, confident in themselves and the community around them.

The government, in reviewing the recommendations, considered many to be positive and constructive. The government, for example, agrees in principle with the proposal of a Commissioner for Children and Young People, pending the outcomes of the review of statutory oversight and community advocacy agencies and the development of streamlined advocacy and complaint mechanisms for children and young people.

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